


Looking For Sunlight

by AFireInTheAttic, doctorkaitlyn, murphysarc, mynightmarestays, queerly_yours, SmartKIN



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bands, F/F, Fluff, Girl Band, Round Robin Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-31 11:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12680589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFireInTheAttic/pseuds/AFireInTheAttic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorkaitlyn/pseuds/doctorkaitlyn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/murphysarc/pseuds/murphysarc, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mynightmarestays/pseuds/mynightmarestays, https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerly_yours/pseuds/queerly_yours, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmartKIN/pseuds/SmartKIN
Summary: It’s difficult to carve out a few precious moment of privacy here and there when you’re onthe road and stuck in close quarters with the band, but with the right motivation, Allison and Maliamanage just fine.





	Looking For Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of a Round Robin fic challenge where one person after the other had to add  
> something to the story without knowing where it would lead in the end. That’s why it varies a little in  
> writing style but we still hope you enjoy what we came up with! It was super fun to write and took a few  
> surprising turns :D

It was still early when Malia surfaced from a restful sleep. She stretched a little and nuzzled her pillow, pondering whether to get up or stay in bed a little while longer. But as her ears picked up the light snores of the other girls, she decided that it was the perfect moment to get some alone time.

Rolling over, she blindly grabbed some of the clothes from the floor and dressed quickly in the dim light, trying to get into her bra without having to take off the loose tank top she’d slept in – it was warm and comfortable and it felt like too much work to remove it only to put it on again.

When she was done, she climbed out of the bottom bunk, stuffed her feet into her worn sneakers, and slipped quietly out of the room, hoping she hadn’t woken any of the others.

All around her, the hostel was eerily quiet, and Malia couldn’t help but revel in the rare feeling of solitude. Staying in crowded motels and hostels and bed & breakfasts had always been her least favorite part of being on the road, but she was getting better at tolerating even that.

Letting her mind wander, she took five flights of narrow stairs down to the ground floor and was glad that the thick red carped swallowed her footsteps. When she reached the lobby, she realized that there was already somebody in the office branching off from the hall, but she managed to make it past the open door without being spotted. 

She didn’t feel like talking right now. Even if it was just a quick ‘good morning’. Fortunately, it was still an hour or so before breakfast and she didn’t have to worry about running into unwanted company.

Walking past the rec room and the kitchen, the hallway led straight into the communal dining room, but she ignored the empty seats and made a beeline for the French doors, slipping out into the tiny back yard.

The crisp morning air made her shiver involuntarily, but she didn’t pause until she reached one of the wooden benches that were mostly obscured from the dining room. She sat down, unconcerned about the dew drops soaking into her hot pants.

Malia heaved a sigh of relief. She loved the girls, she really did, but sometimes she just needed to be alone to recharge her batteries. Leaning back against the wall, she closed her eyes.

She didn’t know how long she sat there in the tiny walled-in yard overgrown with ivy, surrounded by rudimentary lawn furniture, overflowing ashtrays and a lone Rubik’s Cube, her feet planted firmly on the terracotta tilework, just letting herself  _ be _ .

It was no surprise that her solitude didn’t last forever.

“There you are,” a quiet voice said from the doorway, and by the time Malia cocked her head in that direction, Allison had already crossed half of the distance.

Upon reaching her, Allison pressed a cup of coffee into her hands and sat down next to her, their legs brushing against each other on the narrow bench.

Malia took a big gulp, promptly burning her tongue, and was pleased to realize it was just as sweet and milky as she preferred it.

The next few minutes were spent in silence and Malia was torn between forcing herself to start a conversation and simply letting the silence unfold. She had never been good with words, but in moments like this she wished it were different.

“Want me to leave you alone?” Allison asked after a while and Malia realized that she didn’t mind her unassuming company.

“It’s fine,” she mumbled. “Thanks for the coffee.”

The silence resumed. Occasionally, small sounds of Allison shifting around on the bench would break through the quiet, but the setting remained peaceful. A tiny bird that had been flying around their heads landed just inches in front of the bench, and Malia focused all her energy on watching its movements.

“Why are you up so early?” 

At the sound of Allison’s voice, the bird flew away, but Malia didn’t mind. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. The truth was, she didn’t know how to answer that question, because she didn’t quite know herself. “Why are you?”

“Kira snores,” Allison replied. Malia allowed herself to laugh.

After a few beats of silence, Allison sighed. Tension filled Malia’s body because she knew Allison was going to say something difficult. “As true as it is that Kira snores, that’s not actually why I’m out here,” Allison said. Malia turned to stare at her, but the brunette was staring straight ahead. “I just don’t think you should be alone.”

Malia couldn’t help widening her eyes. A few seconds passed before she said, “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Allison sighed again, but this time it was light, and almost humorous. “Of course I do,” she said. “I worry about you. I worry about all of the girls.” 

The cold breeze hitting Malia’s bare skin didn’t feel so cold anymore. “It’s still early,” Allison said, “and I don’t think any of the others are up yet. Did you want to stay here or go back in?”

Malia closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of stale cigarettes, flowers, and fresh coffee. Without thinking about it, she leaned toward Allison, feeling that familiar comfort of her touch. She’d never admit it, but when she touched Allison, whether a passing brush or a solid embrace after a gig well played, she always felt a little flip flop in her stomach. 

A trail of fingers on her knee let her know that she’d been quiet for a hair too long, but how she loved having them there. “Malia?” Allison asked, concern in her low voice. 

She turned her head and met those warm brown eyes and simply stared into them. She wanted more than anything to close the few inches between them and press their lips together, but she knew she couldn’t. “Allison?” Malia asked breathlessly, glancing down at her soft lips.

A blue jay cawed nearby and startled them both. Allison’s elbow knocked into Malia’s arm, jostling her just enough to have her coffee spill on her pants, staining them a rich brown. She jumped at the same time as Allison, knocking their heads together.

“Sorry-“

“No, me! I-“

“Argh! I-“

“I’m sorry!” they shouted at the same time and then dissolved into giggles. Allison’s smile was like a shimmering sunset, warm, inviting, brilliant. Malia thought that she fell a little bit more in love in that very moment, and with that thought, she panicked.

“I should go change these,” Malia stuttered.

Allison bit her lip. “I don’t know. I think coffee is your color,” she teased, poking Malia in the stomach.

Malia’s panic lessened long enough for her to squint at Allison. 

“Oh, come on. Let’s go get you changed and find an empty bed to get a little more shut eye,” Allison said, looping one arm through Malia’s and using her free hand to take the dejected coffee cup and set it on the dilapidated side table. 

A lone ‘okay’ was all that came out of Malia’s mouth as they made their way inside because all she could focus on were the words  _ an empty bed _ – not two, but one.

The hostel was only slightly more lively as they padded back to their room.  The mingled smells of fresh bacon, coffee and grease was starting to permeate the halls and as they took the stairs back up, they brushed past a few people, all in varying states of wakefulness.  The guitarist for one of the other bands they were touring with grunted a greeting as they reached the fifth floor landing, but before Malia could respond, they had passed, tromping down the stairs with a single-minded focus that probably meant they were on the search for coffee. 

Malia understood that urge perfectly. 

She slowly pushed open the door of their room, hyper aware of how close Allison was to her, lingering only inches away from her back.  Most of the bunk beds that filled the room were still occupied. Kira was still asleep in the bunk underneath the tiny window, sprawled across the entirety of the mattress, snoring softly in the glow of a sunbeam.  Malia couldn't help but laugh quietly at the sight, wishing that she had a camera to capture the image.

"Well, there goes my spot," Allison said softly, so close that Malia swore she felt the words brush against the back of her neck.  The room had been exactly one bunk short last night and Kira had volunteered to share with Allison, to save them the trouble of doing rock-paper-scissors or flipping a coin.  But there was definitely no way Allison could squeeze back in with Kira, not without waking her up.  

Now, the meaning of the words  _ an empty bed _ , in the singular, seemed more practical than anything, but that didn't do anything to quell the heavy, tingling sensation that seemed to have taken up residence in Malia's stomach. 

The sensation wasn't exactly new to her, but that didn't mean she was used to it.  Quite the opposite, actually. 

"Do you need another pair of shorts?" Allison asked quietly, crouching down and dragging her duffel from underneath the bottom bunk.  Malia had almost forgotten about the coffee stains on her shorts, but as soon as she was reminded of them, she realized she could smell it on herself, could feel the liquid drying on both her shorts and her underwear.  

"I think I have something left," she muttered, joining Allison on the floor and grabbing her own bag.  She couldn't exactly remember the last time they'd made it to a laundromat; it'd been after their show in Pasadena, when one of the amps had shorted out during sound check and they'd had to scramble to find a replacement, but Malia wasn't sure if that had been five days or a week and a half ago. 

One of the other problems of being on the road, one that she was having a harder time getting used to, was that it was only a matter of days before you totally lost track of the passage of time. 

"Here," Allison said, dropping a lump of fabric into Malia's hands. She had to squint and hold up the bundle into the light in order to see that it was a pair of sweatpants, black with grey piping down the side.  "They should fit. Can't help you on the underwear front though."

Malia knew, without a doubt, that they'd fit, because she'd seen Allison wearing them enough times, seen them sliding down to rest just below her hips as they worked on song ideas or practiced. 

"Thanks," she mumbled, face flaring with heat as she went back to digging through her bag, looking for a clean pair of underwear.     

But sadly there was no luck. It seemed each pair she owned was dirty. Now they would really need to find somewhere to wash their laundry. She groaned a bit as she took the sweatpants. Malia didn’t want to go commando in Allison’s sweatpants but it was all she could do.

“I’ll be back.” She muttered as she stood up.

Malia walked over to the small bathroom that was connected to the room and changed into Allison’s sweatpants. After she adjusted them a bit, she walked out and went back to her bag to throw her clothes back into it. She noticed Allison had crawled into the bottom bunk. Wasn’t a surprise since Kira did claim their bunk. 

As Malia approached, Allison moved over for her so that there was room. Slowly she climbed in with her causing Allison to move over a bit more. She lifted her head as Malia settled into the bed. This wasn’t the first time they had to share space like this. When they traveled in just a van, they curled up in the back together to sleep.

But now was a bit more difficult for them to find a comfortable position. The bed was a bit small for two people and they were trying not to shake the bed so much that Cora would wake up in the top bunk. Allison sat up and looked at Malia.

“Should we just spoon?” she suggested.

Malia looked at her. 

“What?”

“Spooning. This way we’ll be comfortable,” she said softly.

Malia took a second before she nodded her head. 

“You’re the little spoon.”

Allison nodded her head as she turned to her side with her back to Malia. Malia couldn’t help but to smile. She moved up to Allison and wrapped her arms around her. As she put her head close to Allison’s, she breathed in Allison’s scent. Yeah, Malia was used to it, but this time was different. She didn’t know why though.

Maybe it was the closeness – it had been a long time since she’d pressed her face into Allison’s hair, even when hugging. Maybe it was the coffee, perfectly prepared. Or maybe it was just that she was tired and Allison felt more like home than Malia had felt in a long time. She wasn’t sure. Maybe it didn’t matter.

She exhaled, not exactly heavily, but maybe more of a sigh than a mere breath. It made Allison shiver in her arms. 

“Sorry,” she murmured. She didn’t want to wake anyone else in the room, worried that if she did, the moment might end. And as nervous as she was – or maybe terrified was a better word – she didn’t want that. 

“S’okay,” Allison whispered back. She tucked herself in a little tighter, her back pressing more firmly against Malia’s chest. “Just tickles.” 

She couldn’t help herself - she puckered her lips and blew a stream of air across Allison’s neck, making the other girl squirm and snicker quietly. 

“Stop,” Allison hissed, twisting her head. “We should sleep before hitting the road, or we’ll be falling asleep on stage.”

“Yeah,” Malia agreed, tucking her chin over Allison’s shoulder. “Okay.” She breathed exaggeratedly on Allison’s cheek one last time before closing her eyes and tightening her grip around her waist. 

Allison was right – they needed the sleep. Malia thought she would be too nervous to sleep, but in the end, it only took a few minutes for her to drift into a half-awake, half-asleep haze. The coffee probably kept her from completely passing out, but even this was nice – warm, and relaxed. She felt… secure for the first time in a while.

*

The second awakening was much rougher than the first and came in the shape of Erica shaking her shoulder like the unconcerned brute that she sometimes chose to be. Malia made a croaking noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a dying chipmunk, aware that Allison pretended to be fully asleep next to her so that she wouldn’t have to deal with Erica’s idea of tough love. Traitor.

“Get up,” their friend barked. “You need to hurry up if you want to grab some breakfast before we have to check out.”

Malia repeated the pitiful noise, this time evoking a quiet snicker from Allison that the girl pressed into Malia’s bare shoulder. A shiver ran down her spine. Yeah, maybe getting up wasn’t such a bad idea after all, she thought as she felt a blush travel across her cheeks.

Carefully disentangling her limbs from Allison’s, she rolled out of bed and took in their cramped surroundings. Kira was still asleep, despite Erica’s best efforts. The room didn’t look less chaotic than the night before, in fact, there was an unnecessarily large amount of clothes strewn across their assembled bunks. Both Lydia and Cora were missing, but it didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. A glance revealed that the bathroom was occupied, most likely by Lydia, and Cora was probably downstairs, drowning her sorrows in black, bitter coffee.

With a sigh, Malia got to work.

She mechanically stuffed all of her things into her duffel bag, except for a tooth brush, which she put carefully aside for later use and silently hoped that they’d  _ really _ get to a laundromat soon. They would all benefit from a clean batch of clothes. And Allison didn’t have an endless supply of clothes to lend her. 

Allison sat up, careful so she wouldn’t bump her head on the upper bunk and lethargically copied her actions. When their eyes briefly met, the dark-haired girl grinned at Malia and they both felt the ridiculousness of a morning getting ready with the band. There was always so much chaos, and nobody particularly liked each other during those early hours of the day. But there was also a slight edge to Allison’s grin as if the two of them shared a  _ secret _ instead of simply having spent a few illicit minutes together before anyone else was up. It made Malia feel warm inside. She turned back to her bag and tried to ignore that feeling.

Once they were done, Malia and Allison silently agreed on a course of action. Instead of waiting for Lydia to finish up like Erica seemed to be doing while using a compact mirror to apply makeup and fix her blonde mane in case there wouldn’t be a lot of bathroom time left after Lydia eventually emerged picture-perfect, they went down and grabbed some food from the kitchen. Malia indiscriminately piled her plate full of the things she could easily reach and combine, opting for sweet instead of savory that particular morning. She generally didn’t care a lot about what she was eating, as long as it was filling and didn’t take excruciatingly long to prepare. In that regard, life on the road suited her just fine.

A quick survey of the crowded dining room showed them an almost empty table in the corner, secured and defended by a grumpy Cora. They made their way over there past tourists and staff, and dropped into a couple of empty seats.

“Morning,” Malia greeted, more chipper than most days, seeing as this was already her second attempt at tackling the day. Cora just hummed in return and barely looked up from her breakfast. They had all learned the hard way that Cora was not a morning person. There had been tears and bruised egos; not a pretty sight.

Allison shot their friend an amused smile and bumped her knee into Malia’s leg underneath the table.

Suddenly deciding that the funny feeling in her stomach was probably just hunger after all, Malia took a large bite of her buttered toast. Allison showed a little more restraint. She took a sip of orange juice, her dimples becoming more prominent as she scrunched up her face at the sour taste and Malia tried not to stare too obviously at her. Instead she focused very hard on her breakfast.

When Lydia finally joined them, she was perfectly put together as always. Malia didn’t know how she did it. Last time she checked, the redhead didn’t bring more clothes than any of the other girls, and neither did she have a secret laundromat stashed away in their van. It left room for only one conclusion: Lydia was magic.

The redhead speared a piece of fruit with her fork and shot them an inquisitive look.

“What’s on the docket today,” she asked airily and popped a strawberry into her mouth.

Malia was about to relate some of Erica’s carefully laid-out plan that involved arriving at their next venue hours in advance to do an elaborate sound check and get a feel for the place – a sensible plan, really – when Allison did something unexpected: she kicked her underneath the table and then upset the proverbial applecart.

Malia covered up her surprised flinch with a shrug and then gulped down some coffee, carefully not looking at Allison.

“Malia and I will drop you guys off and then find the next laundromat.”

Now Malia did look at Allison sideways, but Lydia merely nodded.

“A good idea,” she agreed and then she shot them a superior smile. “I’ll talk Erica around.”

Allison grinned at her best friend.

“Thanks, Lyds, you’re the best.”

Apparently there was no fooling Lydia Martin. That just left Malia with one big question: What in the heck? Allison voluntarily opted out of a sound check? To spend time alone with Malia? At a laundromat? When it could very well mean that they’d be late for their own gig? Huh.

Allison stole a blueberry off Malia’s plate.

“It’ll be fine,” she murmured as if she had read Malia’s mind. “We can always hang our clothes backstage until after the show.”

Malia retaliated the thievery by grabbing Allison’s glass and taking a sip of orange juice, even though she had one of her own. “Fine,” she said. “As long as I don’t have to explain it to Erica.”

“Explain what to Erica?” 

Malia made a show of zipping her lips as Erica plopped down into the seat next to her. 

Allison rolled her eyes and tapped her foot on Malia’s as she explained her plan.

It...wasn’t  _ footsie, _ but it was pretty damn close. She tried to think of a way to respond, maybe tapping back…

“I guess that’s fine,” Erica said, frowning a little. “It would be nice to have clean clothes, and I think we can do the sound check for you guys.” It was obvious that she wasn’t thrilled with the concept of splitting up, but even Erica hated wearing the same leather skirt too many days in a row.

Malia caught Allison’s foot with her other foot, sandwiching it between hers to stop the tapping. It was making her nervous. 

Allison met her gaze and quirked an eyebrow. It was a teasing look more than anything, but there was a challenge there, too. 

Fine. 

Malia lifted her foot from Allison’s and slowly slid it up her leg. It felt...very unsexy. She really didn’t get how rubbing feet on each other under the table was supposed to be flirty. 

Allison looked like she might start laughing soon - she must not find it sexy, either. Still...the dimples were sort of their own reward, even if footsie was weirder than every rom-com from the nineties had led her to believe. 

“Just make sure you’re not late for the show,” Erica said, standing up to get some food. “We’re not famous enough for that shit to fly.” She wandered off before either of them could respond, but Malia figured it didn’t matter. Erica was tough enough that she didn’t have to wait for the threat to land - she just knew it would. 

*

After everyone had finished eating (or, in Cora’s case, drank enough coffee to be more of a human than an unspeaking lump), they finished packing and brought their stuff down to their van and trailer, which were parked in the gated lot behind the hostel. Getting everything inside was like playing a game of Tetris; the trailer was already packed full with equipment, so all of their personal affects had to fit into the van. Backpacks and duffels ended up piled on top of guitar cases, nearly blocking the rear windshield of the car. 

Malia blindly threw her bags in and claimed the passenger seat before anyone else could beat her to it. A few moments later, Allison slid behind the wheel. She was holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee that she stole from the dining room on the way out, and she passed it over to Malia so that she could adjust the seat. 

"I think we should get extenders for when Lydia and Kira drive," she muttered as the seat roughly jolted a few inches backward. "Save us all from adjusting the seat every single time we switch." 

"Don't think we have the budget for that," Malia responded, passing Allison her coffee after she'd yanked her seat belt on. Allison laughed, dimples popping back into her pale cheeks. 

"Unfortunately, I think you're right." 

She adjusted the mirrors as well, finishing just in time for Erica to jump into the back seat and yank the door closed. 

"Why aren't we already moving?" she snapped, still in the process of tugging on her seatbelt. Allison twisted the keys in the ignition and glanced at Malia, rolling her eyes. Malia snorted and settled back into the lumpy passenger seat, trying to ignore the rush of warmth flooding her entire body. 

The footsie that they had been partaking in underneath the table in the dining hall had been more awkward than anything, had felt like the first baby steps of two high-school kids who had absolutely no idea what they were doing, but this, sharing smiles and glances, secret looks...

Well, Malia had a feeling this was the real basis of a relationship or, at the very least, was something that a relationship could start with. 

Seeing as how Allison was one of her best friends and one of her band mates, Malia felt like she should have been more concerned about the warmth settling in her chest, should have been doing something to tamp it down, to stop things before they started. 

But she'd always liked doing things the hard way, challenging the status quo. 

Really, this wasn't any different. 

Soon enough they arrived at the venue, dropping the others off with their gear. Allison made sure that everyone left their clothes in the van. That done, they headed off. Occasionally Malia would side-eye her but the second Allison looked over, she looked at the road. Soon enough they arrived at the nearest laundromat and gathered the various bags.  

“Where are the quarters?” Malia asked as she looked in the back.

She heard something up front open and then click close. Malia looked up and saw Allison holding up a Ziploc bag full of quarters, smirking. “Glovebox.”

“Oh.” Malia pulled out the last few duffle bags and closed the backdoor.

“We always put it there. It was your idea too,” Allison said as they headed inside. 

“No. It was Lydia’s,” she replied as they started to claim several washing machines. 

They had six bags worth of clothes which might have to be split in two. Twelve loads in total. Between the two of them, they started to fill up six of them. Once those six were in the dryer, they would put the next six in the washing machines. Hopefully there would be enough time for that. Malia set everything up while Allison put in the money. Once the first six loads started washing, Allison took a seat on top of one of the machines.

Malia just looked at her, not sure what to say. Should she bring up the footsie and her feelings? Or should she just let them go? It was weird. She didn’t know what to do.

Out of the blue, something hit her head which caused her to look at her feet. A gum wrapper. She looked at Allison who was grinning and chewing gum.

“What’s going on in Malia world?”

“Hm?”

“You seem out of it. Come on, tell me.” Allison jumped off the washer and walked over to her.

“Um…”

“Is this about this morning?” Allison titled her head, looking at her.

“Kind of.”

Allison chuckled and grabbed Malia by her shirt, pulling her into a kiss. It took Malia by surprise but she didn’t fight it. Instead, she kissed Allison back, gently at first, then more insistently, until she felt something foreign in her mouth. 

That was new.

Allison broke the kiss and grinned at her.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Did you put your gum into my mouth?”

“Didn’t plan that. But still.”

“Yeah,” Malia grinned, enjoying the minty taste in her mouth. “Talk about this more later?”

“Of course. We have a show to put on.”

It was kind of ridiculous how easy it was, how well the two of them just slotted together. Maybe all the time on the road had already taught them how to make it work, how to deal with each other’s moods and oddities. And, as she and Allison sat down on one of the tables, settling in for the long boring wait, she realized that she didn’t need a fairy-tale romance, that she was happy like this, stealing a few quiet moments on the road amidst the chaos of too many girls crammed into a moving shoebox of a car, sharing warmth and laughter and gum.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the read! Hope you enjoyed. If you did, and want to read more, you can find us all on tumblr!  
> [lloydoholic](http://lloydoholic.tumblr.com/), [morphenomenalbabe](http://morphenomenalbabe.tumblr.com/), [murphysarc](http://murphysarc.tumblr.com), [banshee-cheekbones](http://banshee-cheekbones.tumblr.com/), [transnerdguy](http://transnerdguy.tumblr.com/), and [hadeshadaheart](https://hadeshadaheart.tumblr.com/).
> 
> A special thanks goes out to mona (aka lloydoholic) for organizing this round robin & keeping us all on track. Without her, this fic would never have seen the light of day.
> 
> Also! We're all members of the teen wolf femslash writers network ([you can find us here](http://twfemslashwritersnet.tumblr.com/)) so check that out if you're interested! 
> 
> I think that's all from me. Thanks again, have a lovely day <3


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